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The Latest: Maryland judge becomes 2nd to block travel ban

The Latest on rulings to block the Trump administration’s travel ban hours before it was set to take effect: (all times local):

8 a.m.

A judge in Maryland has become the second federal judge in the country to block the Trump administration’s latest travel ban hours before it was set to take full effect.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang granted a nationwide preliminary injunction late Tuesday, after U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii blocked the revised ban. The ban sought to place travel restrictions on citizens of eight countries.

The new restrictions had been slated to go into effect Wednesday.

Watson’s ruling said the new ban fails to show that nationality alone makes a person a greater security risk to the U.S.

Chuang’s ruling said the administration had “not shown that national security cannot be maintained without an unprecedented eight-country travel ban.”

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3:35 a.m.

A U.S. judge in Hawaii says President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban suffers from the same problems as a previous version.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson granted the state of Hawaii’s request to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing the policy, which was scheduled to take full effect Wednesday. His ruling says the latest version discriminates based on nationality.

The White House calls Tuesday’s decision “dangerously flawed.” The Justice Department says it will appeal.

The restrictions were to apply to citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen — as well as some Venezuelan government officials and their families.

It was the third set of travel restrictions issued by the president to be thwarted, in whole or in part, by the courts.